Rousseau describes how he feels about ancient history and fables saying, “My first enquiry is, ‘Can I derive instruction from it? Is it a genuine praxis upon the nature of man? Is it pregnant with the most generous motives and examples? If so, I had rather be profoundly versed in this fable, than in all the genuine histories that ever existed’"(Godwin 5). I think this is an interesting perspective on ancient history as it relates to fables because so many times we, as readers, hear about morals and teachings coming from fables. They were used to teach children and such and it is almost as if ancient history could have the potential to become teachings for more adult concepts. So much of history tells the story of where a certain group of people comes from and serves to prevent similar mistakes in the future. I think that Rousseau is presenting a reasonable argument for fables because so much of history is interpretation of events and, many times, people take historical events out of context leading them to develop skewed opinions that alter their present-day view.
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